Long ago, I made Jesus, sovereign love, my hermeneutic, my “methodology of interpretation,” (6) the lens through which my entire theology is defined.

Discovering our Fathers pleasure is the most empowering thing a Christian will ever do. The opposite is true, believing Father God is angry or displeased will lead to an insecure and survivalist faith walk. Here are five signs you may be serving an angry or “displeased” God.

The power of the song “Come Thou Fount” is the revelation that we can always know His Love

I believe God is always saying one thing: “I love you.” And He always follows up with a question, “do you believe me?” What would our lives look like if we could answer this one question that God is always asking?

The Father never turned His back, He never left, or forsook Jesus, He never abandoned, not even for a moment. His love was just as good as it’s always been.

Peter believed Jesus’ kingdom on earth would need swords and men willing to use them. It would require sacrifice, the willingness to die for Jesus, and also, the willingness to kill for Jesus…

I met a philosophy professor the other day. Well, actually I see him a few times a week. He frequents the same coffee shop I do.

If I type into Google’s search bar, “If God is good…” Google will finish my search with the following suggestions: …Why is there suffering? …why do bad things happen? …why is there evil?

And when the valley of the shadow of death is upon us, that’s when we must know to our core that our Fathers nature doesn’t change. God isn’t fickle. He hasn’t gotten tired of us or changed His mind about us. He hasn’t turned His heart from us; He’s not judging us or condemning us. He is still the same always-good Love He has always been.

“Mercy by itself isn’t enough. Jesus didn’t just come to set us free from sin; He came to empower us into righteousness.”

I believe God is always saying one thing: “I love you.” And He always follows up with a question, “do you believe me?” What would our lives look like if we could answer this one question that God is always asking?

When I gave Jesus my life, He promised He would always be with me. Through the years this promise followed me like a lovely ghost. I encountered it in a song, in a book. I dreamed it. I watched it in a movie; I heard it from the pulpit. It was a gradual unwinding, a realization of who God is, that He lived in me and that He is good. He is always good.

God never instigates nor manipulates a tragedy to grow faith, that’s not what a good Father does. But it is what a controlling God would do.

     Shortly after my book Prone To Love released I came across a review. The reviewer was an earnest believer who graciously but systematically challenged many of my core thoughts regarding the perfection of Gods always-good love. The review was thorough, the...

Control, it masquerades in the religious rhetoric of holiness; its wars are holy, its politics, its inquisitions, its crusades, its genocide, its prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism, its abuse – all painted with the brush of fanatic righteousness.